Writer Spotlight

Char McCargo Bah

Char’s most recent book  Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom was published in 2019. Prior to that, Char’s work also reflected her expertise in genealogy and research, with the publication of  African Americans of Alexandria, VA: Beacons of Light in the Twentieth Century in 2013 and the short story Everyday Grace, Everyday Miracle: Living the Life You Were Born to Live in 2006. She is a freelance writer on local history for her column “The Other Alexandria,” in the Alexandria Times.

CMB: I realized when I was a teenager that I enjoyed reading biographies and memoirs. I would go to the library to research additional information on the biographies that I was reading. Later on, as a young adult, while I was in college, I changed my major to Urban Studies and African-American Studies and excelled in those majors. My research skills really took off. In addition, I fell in love with genealogy. I studied genealogy for ten years before I started taking on clients. Now it has been forty years of researching and writing. Throughout my life journey from my teenage years, college years, and now as a mature woman, I still love reading, writing, and researching families.

JRW: What subject are you most passionate about writing?

CMB: I am passionate about family matters. I would say that the subject would be stories centered around families, whether they are nonfiction or fiction stories.

JRW: What is one of the most surprising things you learned while publishing your work?

CMB: The most surprising thing about my publishing experience is that I did it. A sense of accomplishment. All of my years of studying the craft, strengthening my skills, and researching paid off when I published my first and second books.

JRW: What advice would you offer new writers?

CMB: A famous author gave me advice in the 1980s that was true then, as it is true today. She said, “Study your craft. Read, write, and study the art of writing.”

LE: When I was five, I wrote a play and then invited all the kids in my neighborhood to attend my one-and-only performance. I promised handfuls of candy to would-be audience goers, which was risky because I lived in a candy-free household. Several kids pre-warned me that failure to deliver the goods would result in a beat down. Fortunately, they liked the play enough to forget about beating me up. After that experience, I was hooked on storytelling.

But it wasn’t until my high school creative writing teacher asked if I would publish under my real name or a pen name that I realized I could become a writer.

JRW: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

LE: I write while listening to classical music. I revise while listening to heavy metal.

JRW: What is one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

LE: When you write and revise a story, it’s completely yours. You get to create it, shape it, and hold on to all of its meaning and power. Once something’s published, the story no longer belongs to you. Readers get to decide what it means and how they’ll use it.

Because this is the case, it’s important to do three things.

LE: To become a writer, there’s only one requirement: sit down and write.

To write well, you must be willing to do it poorly. That means giving yourself permission to write Anne Lamott’s shitty first drafts. It also means being humble enough to revise your work.

People who don’t follow their passions will discourage you from becoming a writer. They’ll say it’s too hard to make money as an artist or they’ll remind you that the competition is fierce. They’ll tell you to be practical and tout the importance of having backup plans. They’ll question the time you spend on your projects and use every rejection as proof that you’re wasting your time.

These people aren’t living their fullest lives, so don’t let them limit yours.

If you’re called to write, sit down and write. Do it for the joy and the heartache. Do it because, on the last day of your life, you want to be able to say you truly lived, and even if that novel you wrote didn’t get picked up by a major publisher, you actually wrote it and that alone is a minor miracle.

This is not to suggest that “if you just write it, then publishers (and money) will come.” You’ll probably need a job other than a writer to pay the bills, and yes, rejections will sting. Sometimes you’ll question why you do this. But if writing is your calling, spending regular time with your muse will allow you to live fully and joyfully no matter what you write about.

After attending The College of the Holy Cross, Steven became a Certified Public Accountant and filled various roles in public accounting and private industry. A lifelong lover of books and literature, over the years he dabbled with writing fiction. Since retiring from the corporate world in 2016, Steven has fully committed to learning the craft. His short story “Deep Waters” earned an honorable mention award in the 2020 89th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.

Steven, a proud father of three adult children and one incredibly lucky son-in-law, is happily married to his wife of thirty-five years, Kathy. They live in Richmond, Virginia.

JRW: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

SR: When I was in second grade (which, incredibly, was when Lyndon Johnson was President), my father was frustrated with how much television I was watching and enrolled me in the summer reading program at our local public library. After reading Matt Christopher’s The Reluctant Pitcher, I became a voracious reader of fiction. Over the years, I was fascinated by the writing process and have dabbled with writing fiction for as long as I can remember. However, in 2016 I retired from my career as a business executive to focus on writing and discovering the craft. I began by composing short stories and experimenting with genres, styles, and story structures. I attended conferences and workshops (thank you, JRW!) and worked with a writing coach. Eventually, I moved on to novels and settled on my genre.

JRW: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

SR: I’m not sure if this is a quirk, but I can’t begin to write anything until I know the beginning and the end of the story. While I almost never know what’s going to happen in between, I have difficulty writing the first word until those two things are in my head. Also, I have to listen to quiet instrumental music before the “juices start to flow.” There’s some switch in my brain that flips and says “Okay, it’s writing time” when the music starts. I typically listen to the flute or soft piano selections on Pandora.

JRW: What is one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

SR: I am most surprised by how much I enjoyed the formal editing process with Elk Lake Publishing. I expected drudgery and what I experienced was the equivalent of a Master’s level course in the craft. The most impactful step was my first edit. This required I utilize a list of “Weasel Words” and attempt to purge them from the book. While completing the assignment, I eliminated 3,000 words from my manuscript without changing the story or my book’s tone. I now use that list as my first editing step with everything I write.

JRW: What advice would you offer new writers?

SR: While I still consider myself a new writer, here’s what I would offer to those just starting out. To begin– practice, practice, practice. While seminars and courses are extremely useful, the only way to develop is to grind away at putting words on paper. This helps you develop your specific voice and style. Secondly, write the story/book you want to write. You’ll get a lot of input from beta readers and everything they pass along is useful. However, they have their own biases and perspectives. For me, if I hear something from more than one person, I’ll definitely make a change. If the advice comes from a single individual and I’m uncomfortable with the input, I’ll follow my preference. Finally, if you can afford to pay for a professional editor, the investment is well worth the cost. I did that with Into the Room, and not only did I end up with a better book, I also found my publisher through my editor.

More on those pesky weasel words HERE

Bishakh has illustrated two books about architecture: The Prefab Bathroom: An Architectural History and Cocktails and Conversations: Dialogues on Architectural Design.

Bishakh’s artwork was featured in solo shows at ArtLexis Gallery and at Jaya Yoga Center and in group shows at The Society of Illustrators in New York, the Bannister Gallery at Rhode Island College, Issyra Gallery, the Grady Alexis Gallery, De Cacaofabriek in the Netherlands and most recently at Art Omi in Ghent, New York.

BS: I’ve been drawing comics since I was a kid. In high school, I aspired to draw comics and illustrations professionally but that seemed like a pipe dream back then. My career path led me into architecture, which at the time involved drawing by hand—so it seemed like a good fit and a reasonable compromise. In 2011 or so, circumstances coalesced to turn me off of architecture as a practice, and I decided to take some time off to focus on art, comics, and illustration. During that time, I wrote and drew two graphic novels which finally came out in 2020 to some acclaim. In 2021, both books were nominated for multiple awards and have even won a few. So I think I made the right decision—and since that fateful turn in my life and career, I have, as the cliché goes, never looked back.

JRW: What is one of the most surprising things you learned while publishing your work?

BS: That there was, for real, an audience for the kind of work I was doing. That there were people out there who would, and did, connect with my work on a very emotional and essential level. That the stories I was telling which I initially thought were maybe too quirky and idiosyncratic to be appreciated by more than a niche audience actually resonated with a lot of readers. That sometimes not adhering to or fitting into a genre is a magical thing.

BS: Seek out other like-minded artists and writers. Form a writing or drawing club and set goals and assignments for each other. Meet up every two weeks, share your work, and give each other critiques. Discuss your craft. You can learn so much from each other—in terms of technique, style, materials, processes, approaches, attitudes—and most importantly, you can give each other the support you need to really thrive.